Thanks to family ownership, the perfect balance has been maintained

Thanks to the continuity brought by family ownership, Ockenden - and, indeed, its sister West Sussex hotels of Bailiffscourt and the Spread Eagle - that perfect balance has been maintained.

Miranda and Pontus Carminger, whose family began running the first of the three hotels - the Spread at Midhurst - in 1957 are rightly excited about the addition of the spa. It is the last of the trio of hotels to benefit from such a feature.

“The spa is a brand new building that thanks to some canny architectural design, somehow blurs the lines between old and new. We think it’ll offer visitors to beautiful Cuckfield and Ockenden Manor a truly serene experience,” they said.

Of course, an hotel is more than just a spa.

It’s about comfort, service, accommodation, and food.

It needs, too, to combine a sense of occasion with a feeling of home.

Ockenden could have lost its way if it had been allowed to become too grand and pretentious.

As it is, it oozes a comforting sense of the comfortable.

Its improved restaurant has been open for a full year and we reviewed the work of its Michelin-starred team.

The restaurant itself is a classic example of the building’s evolution. It has been extended with a huge lantern window showering the room with light, and the great picture windows giving a far-reaching view across a pure English landscape, dappled with the autumnal shades of changing leaves.

We visited as a family on Sunday and chose from the traditional Sunday Lunch menu - priced at £34.50 per person for three courses. A chef’s special starter is also included - on this occasion, turbot fritter with tartare sauce and pea shoots.